Minggu, 29 Juni 2008

Yes, the colors have changed but you are in the right place. How valid is that statement in life itself? Do the colors you see or feel truly represent you being in the right place? Are you blue? Do you see red? Can you be green with envy? Is it a black day? Have you whitewashed your sensitivities? Is your brain having a brown-out?Why do we assign colors to emotions, I wonder. And, what are the colors of positive feelings? Being "in the pink"? Feeling "peachy"? Seeing the "silver lining"? Living your the "golden years"? Huh. I'm not sure. This all just popped into my mind. Ergo-indigo, I write.

Regardless, it is another glorious day, bursting with bird songs at this time. Could there be anything more peaceful than being surrounded by different birds raising their voices in song and with cricket accompaniment to boost? The sun peeks in through thickly summer-leafed trees, creating dancing wall shadows to entertain and tease the pets. I am in the right place. I love it.

It is good to be grateful no matter what color and place we are in. Each day offers, and if we accept the offer, it provides just what we need. Don't OVER-look today!

Email does is not my life. I do not obsess about it. But when it isn't available and is being paid for and I would find it a useful communications tool, well then, I would like it to be ON. Hughes, bless their hearts, is now on the second attempt in upgrading their email. Something must have gone wrong,as it did last time. Hopefully they will restore the old way ASAP. Like I said, bless their hearts.

Hightlights? See for yourself.The new hot water heater is being installed as I write.Ed has gone to Grafton to sand bag. Must be something he did when he was in sales and he misses it. I never could get the hang of it. Oh, different sand bags...I have a typical day planned: clean, racquetball, visit, errands.Rain is on the way. Those folks living near the Mighty Mississippi are getting a workout.

There is, once again, too much stuff in this house. How does that happen? I'm loading it up and it goes out the door - one time. I thought we had it bad with parental households to empty but a friend indicated she had to go through something like 7-9 households, sort, pitch, give away, place in another family member's house, keep. In some cases all I want is to know someone will use the stuff for something other than landfill.

Of course, there is one thing I'm looking for; I had it on my trip, brought it home and washed it. Now it cannot be found. My Tilly hat. Fortunately I know the rule: Stop looking for it and it will show up. uh-huh.

Life is like that though. Stop looking for it and it will show up, whatever it is, just as it should, according to The Plan.

Selasa, 24 Juni 2008

A new commitment - get rid of dated paper. The first stop was the desk and the dreaded task of sort, toss, file. How I hate that. The biggest pile is the 30+ years of poems I have written and the problem is that there are multiple copies of some and they are not in any order these days. Once they were. So I'm deciding - chuck 'em all and forget about them or load them onto the PC and save them to a CD then burn the paper. I'm REALLY leaning towards the first choice; who's going to want these when it is time to clean this house out? Not me! Let me lighten the load now!

Maybe I'll have a little celebration. Why not? It's momentous to clear the clutter, especially when what is being disposed of could be very telling. Lots of history resides between the lines if not right on them! I feel better about getting rid of them already. Be right back.

DONE. Voila'. No regrets. Clean slate.

What's next? Maybe the hot water heater manual. The hot water heater itself has bellied up and is being replaced Wednesday.

Selasa, 17 Juni 2008

Looking back on the climb to the summit.Did I mention it was a 4700 foot climb UP? Thankfully I reached for my water bottle and had my hiking boots on before I headed onto the trail. There were people of all sorts - single, pairs, families, all ages, all huffing and puffing and encouraging each other! NOT MUCH FARTHER! Ha!

I only got three or four steps down, not even off the slanted rock, when this little guy caught my attention. He'd acquired a "cheese puff" from someone's lunch and was almost done establishing a personal preference for fat filled, useless, carbohydrated, human treats. He was perched amidst glorious rhododendrons and myrtle.

It certainly takes away a person's breath, figuratively and literally.

Back on the road again and the next real stop was New Bern where I walked around and found the used book store and the pet and pet owner shop (no live animals for sale - just stuff). But the photo I took and the scent I'll remember is this magnificent magnolia. What a find it was - there were very few still in bloom!

Then, it was on to Shackleford Island!

These two shots show, shall I say,accommodations? First is my "island residence" and then the dining area. Every food item is bagged and stored because there are raccoons on the island. We must have done a good job of storing things as we never saw any.

The horses are amazingly adjusted to humans being on the island and actually traipsed through the camp soon after we arrived. As we learned our way around they would walk nearby and graze without too much concern. We knew what actions and expressions to look for and if we needed to step back we did.

The little guy on the right is a Ghost Crab, very active until he knows you've spotted him. Other crabs included the horseshoe crab, a little fiddle crab, and some tourists.

There were trees. Some. But we weren't able to get under them for shade as that is horse territory. Obviously not all of them knew that or they'd have been down to what was called Mullett Pond.

To say it was hot is like saying ice cream is just OK. There was a breeze, thankfully.

Just returned from an abbreviated vacation, leaving the new dry creek bed, well...not so dry. We were grateful we put this in when we did for it did help move the water out of our yard.

Heading towards North Carolina I made few but spectacular stops. Decided to spend the night at Kentucky state park, Pine Mountain - I think! This is the view from one of the pullouts as I was leaving the next morning.

There was a stop at Bean Station which is one of the first settlements in Tennessee. This was a warpath for the Cherokee and apparently there was/is a famous Bean Station Tavern, in front of Bean Fort. The tavern was loved by Union and Confederate soldiers for when the Civil War was fought it was protected.

Then there is The Chimney Tops...This is an image of the creek running in the lower part of a 4700 ascent to the summit. Yes, I made the climb! That shot and more...to follow in another blog!!!!

Senin, 16 Juni 2008

At the Puyallup show on June 8, 2008, Bob won Best of Winners earning another Major and 4 more points. Competition was a family affair as he went head to head with his daddy (Herbie) and his kennel mate (Sera). Herbie took BOB.

Bob's first time in the ring. He took Best of Breed at the Puyallup show on June 7, 2008. Winning a Major and 4 points towards his conformation championship. He competed in Groups but only made the first cut still not too bad for his first show. HAIL Bob!

Kamis, 05 Juni 2008

The Marx Brothers had it wrong. In this part of the country right now we should all be in duck suits. It's wet. What else is there to say? Yesterday we were called to serve. A military wife, whose husband is away, is in their new home with 4 children and her father. Also in the home was a carpeted basement full of unpacked boxes, furniture, and water. Within two hours several of us had cleared it out and vacuumed the water. A carpet shop owner had been there and was an angel. He was coming back before the day's end to help and he was donating cash to the Crisis Response Team. He wears a cross on his business suit. Boldness. Living it.

Anyway, it was good to do something for someone else. I'd just been mulling and moping in my own (mother)issues and had said to myself, "Self, you need to quit the pity party and go help someone who needs it more than you." God provides.

We have baby robins! Our poocher, Tripp, has taken them on as a family to guard. As if his paws weren't already full enough as it is.And, then there's Harmony, the mudrunner. She makes the most of every moment which is a great lesson to us.

Rabu, 04 Juni 2008

My cousin sent me an article about making a tripod with a string,...G. Ooops, does that make it X rated, using string and G together?

Eva/Mom is UP in a wheelchair and has done a therapy session. She feels obligated to do that and she's going to complain the entire time. Good for her we say. She has already surprised us with the turnaround she's experienced.

Our geographical area is soaking wet. Who elsewhere needs water!?

Is anyone else relieved that the primaries are over? Do we need to tell Hillary cuz she didn't seem to get the memo. All sorts of options are being batted about - she wants Mr. O to pay off her campaign debts with his campaign surplus; she wants him to support her friends who are struggling with re-election; she wants something more than Sec'y Health (Education and Welfare - are they still lumped together?)...on and on. I'll admit she's admirable, if for no other reason than her persistence. One side of me says she's the bigger person for forgiving Bill's indiscretions but the real me says, she should have drop kicked him out of the Oval Office when she had a chance. Is it good that she lived through that and came out smiling? Does it show strength, fortitude, courage? Or, is she savvy enough to hang on for the political plums, screw the rest of it/them? And, what about darling Chelsea? Is it in the Clinton long term plan to launch her political career soon so she will have her chance at the presidency someday? Count on it.

All the pundits and news puppets are right - there is a heckuva big difference in delivery between McCain and Obama. Americans need to look at what the message is. Like that is going to ever happen. Aren't we all more and more ADD each day? If we cannot tell if McCain is awake we won't even try to understand him. If we are swept into Obama's arms by the surrounding enthusiasts won't we go along with it? I'm stuck. I'm not certain I can support a national health care plan to cover people who are too inconvenienced to take better care of themselves and would rather whine about it and let those of us who do make an effort pay their way too. I can understand some of it and gosh knows I hate my ascending premiums. But, aren't we supposed to be responsible for our own selves and well-being? Isn't there some sense of personal commitment? At the same time, who wants Iraq to be sucking the air out of our tires for another 100 years?

Face it, this is more of a beauty contest than ever before. We can only hope that the candidates recruit damned good staffers and fill the appointed posts with terrific, experienced, diverse, and patriotic people.

Minggu, 01 Juni 2008

As was predicted, we had a major rain storm Friday night. The wind blew, but severely and not exceedingly long, and then the sky opened up and we were whopped by rain turning to hail. Fortunately one of the dogs and I had walked in the field next door and found 8 golf balls so there was something to size the hail against.

APL has enriched its "Donation Dog" program with add'l volunteer dogs. Yesterday was Harmony's debut and she was stationed outside a big box store for 3 hours. Her friendly pitt mix demeanor yielded $173.54 for the dogs and cats who need extra attention at the shelter. Here's the li'l darlin' herself, enjoying a personal exploration of the creek bed and the water it held from Friday night.

BTW, the golf balls in the field are regular finds there. We're collecting them to create a golf shore or golf coast on the creek bed.